Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Implementing Pedagogical
Content Knowledge through
partnership and relating this to
the planning and assessment of
practical activities
Maarten Tas & Jon Heywood
www.le.ac.uk
Overview
The problem
Why implementing PCK
What is PCK
Secondary Science PGCE course at Leicester
The PCK Toolkit
The PCK Framework
Example of the PCK Framework
Assessing Practicals
Example of Review of Intended Learning Outcomes
General findings
Comments from mentors and PGCE students
The problem?
Science teachers teaching out of specialism may become
secure in their subject knowledge but may not have the
pedagogical knowledge to deliver it in the most effective ways
A shortage of skilled physics and chemistry teachers means
there may be increasing numbers of teachers teaching out of
specialism
A lack of confidence with unfamiliar topics may promote
teaching through content delivery rather than developing
opportunities for Inquiry Based Learning
Why?
Education White Paper (2010)
4.8 Teachers, not bureaucrats or Ministers, know best how to teach how to
convey knowledge effectively and how to unlock understanding. In order to
bring the curriculum to life, teachers need the space to create lessons
which engage their pupils, and children need the time to develop their
ability to retain and apply knowledge.
4.9 Teachers must be free to use their professionalism and expertise to
support all children to progress. So, in outlining what children should expect
to know in core subjects, the new curriculum will allow a greater degree of
freedom in how that knowledge might be acquired and what other teaching
should complement this core.
Why?
Increasingly Science teachers are being asked to
teach out of specialism:
Only 259 physics post-graduate teaching students went into teaching in
2010 compared to 442 chemists and 764 biologists.
Given the difficulty of getting physics teachers, schools must be
tempted to appoint biologists and hope they can teach physics
Good Teacher Training Guide 2010
What is PCK?
What is PCK?
PCK includes "the most useful forms of representation of
[topics], the most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples,
explanations, and demonstrations - in a word, the ways of
representing and formulating the subject that make it
comprehensible to others
Pedagogical content knowledge also includes an
understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics
easy or difficult: the conceptions and preconceptions that
students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them to
the learning of those most frequently taught topics and
lessons.
Shulman, 1986
Framework adapted to
develop student
thinking about the
place of activities linked
to
How Science Works
Assessing Practicals
The task has three components:
An overview of intended learning outcomes of a series of practicals;
A review of intended learning outcomes of each practical;
A more detailed evaluation of each practical:
General findings
Both students and mentors reported significantly increased familiarity
with the concept of PCK
Both students and mentors reported significant increases in awareness
of the potential for PCK as a planning tool and for encouraging
collaborative planning and sharing best practice within departments
There was a clear awareness of wider issues associated with the topic
that would benefit from inclusion in the PCK framework notably
approaches to:
Developments
Use of the PCK framework is now fully
integrated into student teachers work on
Assessing Practicals
A train the trainer course is being developed
for dissemination of Implementing PCK at
all Science Learning Centres (SLC)
Wider implications?
Duggan-Haas et al (2000)
suggest clearer links are
needed between
Pedagogical Knowledge,
Content Knowledge and
other required standards
for Science teaching in the
US.
Similar potential exists in
the UK for new curriculum
developments.
ITE
SoE
Sharing
good practice
Sustainable CPD
Research
CPD
SLC
References
Berry, A. and Loughram, J. (2010) What do we know about effective CPD for developing
science teachers pedagogical content knowledge? Paper presented at the International
Seminar, Professional Reflections, National Science Learning Centre, York. Available as
pdf: https://www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/research-and-impact/researchseminars/NSLC%20UYSEG%20seminar%20Berry.pdf
Education White Paper (2010)
Duggan-Haas, Enfield and Ashmann (2000) Content and Pedagogy: Intersection in the
NSTA Standards for Science Teacher Education. Electronic Journal of Science Education
V4 N3. Accessed 13/4/12 at https://www.msu.edu/~dugganha/PCK.htm
Good Teacher Training Guide (2010)
Millar, R. and Abrahams, I. (2009) Practical work: making it more effective. School Science
Review, 91(334): 5964
Shulman, L.S. (1986) Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational
Researcher 15 (2), 4-14
Windschitl, M., Thompson J. and Braaten M. (2010) Fostering Ambitious Pedagogy in
Novice Teachers: The Role of Tool-Supported Analyses of Student Work. Paper presented
at the International Seminar, Professional Reflections, National Science Learning Centre,
York. Available as pdf: https://www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/research-andimpact/research-seminars/NSLC%20UYSEG%20seminar%20windschitl.pdf